The countdown to the 2016 – 2017 NFL season officially begins this week. It all begins Thursday with the annual NFL draft. And ESPN will have full coverage of this year’s draft.

ESPN launches its coverage of the 2016 NFL draft Thursday night at 8pm ET live from Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. ESPN will carry Round one with limited commercial interruption for the fifth consecutive year when it begins Thursday night. It will be simulcast live on ESPN Radio nationwide. Before the network’s coverage begins, it will air a special pre-draft SportsCenter broadcast at 7pm ET that looks forward not only to the first round of the draft but all seven rounds. Speaking of those other rounds, ESPN will carry coverage of Rounds 2 and 3 live Friday evening beginning at 7pm ET from the Auditorium Theatre live on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNRadio. Rounds 4 – 7 will be covered live Saturday beginning at noon eastern. ESPN will carry coverage of Rounds 4 – 7 live from Chicago’s Grant Park.

Chris Berman will anchor ESPN’s broadcast of the draft’s first round Thursday evening. He will be joined at the desk by veteran NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper, Jr., ESPN Monday Night Football analyst and Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden, and NFL Front Office Insider Louis Riddick. Fellow NFL Insider Adam Schefter will be on hand along with NFL host Suzy Kolber, and a team of NFL reporters from team sites with all of the latest news throughout the first round.

Trey Wingo will anchor ESPN’s coverage of Rounds 2 – 7 over the weekend. He will be joined by Mel Kiper, Jr., NFL Front Office Insider Louis Riddick, NFL Insider Adam Schefter, and NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay. The full broadcast schedule for this weekend’s NFL draft coverage across the ESPN networks is listed below.

ESPN NFL Draft Programming Originating from Chicago (April 28-30):

Date

Time (ET)

Event

Network(s)

Thu, Apr 28

6-10 a.m.

Mike & Mike

ESPN Radio, ESPN2

10-11 a.m.

SportsCenter

ESPN

10 a.m.-12 p.m.

First Take

ESPN2

1:30-2:30 p.m.

NFL Insiders

ESPN

2:30-3:30 p.m.

NFL Live

ESPN

6-7 p.m.

SportsCenter

ESPN

7-8 p.m.

SportsCenter Special: Draft Countdown

ESPN

8-11:30 p.m.

NFL Draft (Round 1)

ESPN,
ESPN Radio

11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.

SportsCenter

ESPN

Fri, Apr 29

6-10 a.m.

Mike & Mike

ESPN Radio, ESPN2

10-11 a.m.

SportsCenter

ESPN

10 a.m.-12 p.m.

First Take

ESPN2

1:30-2:30 p.m.

NFL Insiders

ESPN

2:30-3:30 p.m.

NFL Live

ESPN

7-11:30 p.m.

NFL Draft (Rounds 2-3)

ESPN/ESPN2, ESPN Radio

Sat, Apr 30

12-8 p.m.

NFL Draft (Rounds 4-7)

ESPN

Along with its domestic coverage of the NFL Draft, ESPN International will carry coverage of the NFL Draft to more than 72 million households in 59 countries and territories throughout Latin America’s Spanish-speaking regions, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Canada will have coverage of the NFL Draft via TSN. Audiences in Mexico and Central America can get full coverage of the draft via ESPN’s ESPNPlay broadband platform. Audiences in Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil will be able to catch coverage of the NFL Draft online via WatchESPN while audiences in the rest of South America will get live coverage of Round 1 live online via ESPNPlay.

The ESPN networks’ primary draft coverage is just the tip of the iceberg for this year’s events. There will also be special, additional commentary and more across each of ESPN’s networks and platforms including but not limited to The Mel Kiper Draft Grades –the foundation of SportsCenter Special: Draft Grades on May 1st at 7pm ET on ESPN. More information on the ESPN networks’ coverage of this year’s NFL Draft is available online now at:

College football season is mere weeks away. And in celebration, ESPN’s College Football Live returns next Monday, July 14th with all of the latest college football news and headlines. Chris Cotter will host. He will be joined by a rotating group of analysts that includes: Joey Galloway, Brian Griese, Desmond Howard, Danny Kanell, Trevor Matich, and Robert Smith in a half-hour round table setting.

Once football season is officially under way, College Football Live will broadcast live each Friday from the site of ESPN’s College GameDay Built by the Home Depot. And beginning next Monday, July 14th, football fans will get two and a half hours of football programming each day on ESPN Monday – Friday. That programming will come courtesy of College Football Live, NFL Insiders and NFL Live. The full schedule is listed below.

Officials with ESPN have announced the full schedule for its networks’ coverage of this year’s NFL Draft.

Coverage of the 2014 NFL Draft begins next Thursday, May 8th on ESPN at 8pm ET. The broadcast will come live from New York’s Radio City Music Hall and will be simulcast on ESPN Radio beginning at 7pm ET. ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the NFL Draft will be anchored by Dari Nowkhah. Nowkhah will be joined by ESPN analysts Louis Riddick, Mark Schlereth, and ESPN.com senior NFL writer John Clayton. Freddie Coleman will host a post-first round broadcast beginning at 11:30pm ET. He will be joined by ESPN Insider Adam Caplan. Nowkhah and company will be back on the air the next morning, May 9th. The post-show broadcast that evening will come live at 11pm. It will be hosted by Kevin Winter. Winter will be joined by Adam Caplan for the broadcast. ESPN Radio’s draft coverage will also be available online at ESPNRadio.com.

ESPN will carry coverage of Round 1 live with limited commercial interruption in the broadcast’s first hour for the third straight year this year. Baltimore Ravens great and NFL veteran Ray Lewis will join NFL Draft host Chris Berman as part of ESPN’s NFL Draft commentator team for the first round of the draft. Berman, who is now in his thirty-fourth year of covering the NFL Draft, will also be joined by ESPN NFL analysts Jon Gruden and Mel Kiper, Jr. Kiper is himself in his thirty-first year of covering the draft’s first round. Suzy Kolber will be on the floor, bringing viewers live interviews with draftees throughout Round 1 while NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter will have reports from an additional set.

Trey Wingo will anchor the second through seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Rounds two through seven will be carried on television on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU. He will be joined by ESPN NFL analysts Trent Dilfer, Mel Kiper, Jr., and Todd McShay as well as NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen, and Adam Schefter and ESPN Front Office Insider Bill Polian.

As an added bonus for viewers, ESPN will have a number of reporters imbedded with various teams throughout the networks’ coverage of the draft. Ed Werder will have live reports from the Houston Texans’ camp while Josina Anderson and Britt McHenry will have reports from the Rams and Jaguars respectively. Sal Paolantonio will be embedded with the Browns and Michele Steele with the Buccaneers. Bob Holtzman will have all the latest from the Minnesota Vikings camp.

The complete broadcast schedule for the ESPN family of networks’ draft coverage is available below.